Police have asked a hate crime investigator to look into vandalism discovered on a war memorial at a park near Toronto’s waterfront. . . shortly after Remembrance Day ceremonies wrapped on Sunday.

“Canada will burn praise Allah," was written with permanent marker across the monument in Coronation Park, near Lake Shore Blvd. W and Strachan Ave.,

City of Toronto workers were on scene Sunday night cleaning the memorial. If the vandalism is declared a hate crime, the formal charge will remain mischief but the penalty accompanying a conviction will be much more severe.

The Victory Peace monument was created to mark the end of the Second World War. It features 50 words in 50 different languages, all of them meaning “peace.” Sculptor John McEwen said it’s apparent that whoever defiled the piece did not stop to consider the meaning of the work.